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ZSF2/Magic
Magic is not a yet well known, and only some people have been able to control it so far. How it showed up and where it is even from is also not yet well known. Unlike most games, magic in the world of ZSF is not strongest as a weapon, but instead most useful as a tool. Being able to control and change the world through "Elements" has many applications outside of combat situations, such as helping cement in construction solidify faster and harder, or giving yourself a gustful push when you need to make that jump or run. Further information on the elements of magic and how it can be used are as follows: Elements Another differince from most games and ZSF are how Elements are handled. Instead of a a chart of what elements are weak to others in a series of attacks and spells, each element controls an aspect, a litteral 'element' of what makes up the universe. What aspect it controlls thus determins how you can use the element, either as a tool or as a weapon. Each element is part of a group called a "Tier", with the Tiers ordered from lowest to highest.The first tier starts with 6 elements with each Tier having one less element then the tier below it. In Total there are 5 Tiers, thus totaling to 20 Elements. Each tier's theme has both a scientific and 'mystic' duality, often controlling something related to both in a semi related manner. Each is also more "mysical" and less strict-scientificly limited the further up the tiers you go, with the fifth tier and enough power allowing one to even break some fundimental laws of reality. If you ever learn magic, you must start with an element of the first tier, and can only select an element of a tier if you have at least one element of the tier below it. You are however allowed to have as many elements of any tier you want, as long as you earn each one before using it. The 20 Elements and 5 Tiers are as follows: Tier 1: "Nature" Matter & The Classical Elements Elements of this Tier are easily recognizable in both the Eastren and Westren style of "Elements" and are most recognizable in a number of other games. Each controlls a particular aspect of a phase of matter or the heating/cooling of said matter between phases. __L __F | A__|__| | |__W |__C E *Fire/Heat: Although most often known for causing fire by heat, it is also able to simply convert near by energy to "heat" with out the fire effect for a number of usual purposes. It is a well known and commonly used element. *Lightning/Plasma: Seen as part of the "Metal" element in the Eastren idology, it allows one to control and direct plasma and other ionized forms of matter.. as well as the electrons themselves in various electrical applications. *Air/Gas: Often nicknamed "wind" due to the most basic form of control being simply moving the air it's self, allows one to control and direct matter in a gas state, which is basicly the entirity of the air it's self. Seen as part of the "Wood" element in Eastren idology *Water/Liquid: Found in almost every living thing and even suspended in minute amounts in the air, water in a liquid state is everywhere. Though this element also protains to other matter often found in a liquid state, Water is by far the most common. Water which has been recent evaporated or frozen quickly loses it's ability to be controlled by this element however. *Earth/Solid: For matter in a solid state, it is easiest to control many diffrent types of matter in a solid state mixed togeather... which is basicly discribing the ground it's self. Can be used to control or even soften and harden things in a solid state, and skilled uses of it can effect even pure matter such as some metals and other materials. *Cold: Not found in either the Westren or Eastren list of elements, it is Fire's inverse. The ability to remove heat from matter and thus make it colder. It is often seen as "Ice" due to the ease of the creation of ice with any present water, though it can be used to lower the tempature of just about anything. Tier 2: "Energy" & State of Mind Elements of this Tier are also rather well known in some forms of elemental charts in games or other works of fiction, and sometimes in forms of alignement. Controlling light and dark... order and chaos, as well as a state of ballance between them. Though Light/Dark and Order/Chaos may sound like good and evil, law and destruction.. this is not the case. With out negative feelings from Darkness, and in a state of perfect order, no one would ever feel a need for change, everyone would be content, and progress and the growth of life would stagnate. All the elements are equally important. L /|\ / | \ C--B--O \ | / \|/ D *Light/Positive: Controlling and drawing out Light, often accoceated with good things and sometimes even seen as a divine ability. It allows you to seemingly create and bend light to your own uses, even concentraiting it in to a beam. The feelings of light magic on a person are often positive in nature as it stimulates the body with energy in limited amounts. *Order/Synthesis: Directing things to be in a more orderly matter, combining matter togeather in to more complex states. It is very useful in such applications as making something harder or more protective, or at least more organized. When used on people it often makes them more orderly as well. *Ballance/Staitus: A state of ballance, when used by someone, can either direct something closer to a state of ballance or make it unable to change from it's current state. It has much the same effect on the mind as it does on matter. *Chaos/Entropy: Spreading things out in a random manner, creating more entropy, and tearing apart compounds in to a more entropic state of it's components. When used on the mind if often causes confusion and unpredictablity *Dark/Negative: Controlling the absense of Light, moving around darkness, and removing energy. Though it may be seen as evil for the negative effects it has on one's mind, if there was never anything wrong, there would never be ambinition or desire. It has many uses in stealth due to remove light and make sight impossible. Tier 3: "Universal" & Celestial Motion Elements of this Tier control some very fundemental aspects of our Universe, from Time and Space to the Nuclear strong and weak force and Gravity. Before either was very well known, the Sun and Moon were often seen as the creators of Nuclear and Gravity elements, and due to one's own Nuclear fusion and the other's tidal effects on the planet, they do still have ties to said elements today. N T / X / S G *Solar/Nuclear: Controlling nuclear energy and radiation and what binds atoms togeather. Though it takes a very skilled user to effectivly create a fusion or fission reaction from magic alone. It can also be used to weakly control some of the energy from the sun that reaches the planet and other forms of radiation that are not strictly light. *Chrono/Time: Controlling the flow of time, though it is not easily possible to actually travel through time it's self with out extensive skill, one may still speed and slow things down, as well as make things happen in reverse. Though even that only makes things flow in the other direction, it doesn't undo things independent of time such as something breaking through force. *Dimention/Space: Controlling the placement of space and things around it, with extensive skill one may even be able to step outside of the three dimentions and warp things in other manners. basic teleportation and the bending of space are possible if one is skilled enough. *Lunar/Gravity: The force of matter to attract other matter can be bent or even reversed, creating pull or push where they shouldn't be some or repressing the natural gravaity in a given area to give one the ability to levitate, or force things togeather in a more dense matter then they are already, careful control can lead to a lot of applications that were impossible by the current technology before. Tier 4: "Fate" The state of Life Elements of this Tier are even less connected to the Universe it's self, focusing now on Life and Death and even one's own concousness of existince. Or perhaps it is even closer to the core of the universe, and we are the universe trying to understand it's self? With these powers, one can bring someone from the brink of death to a more healthy state, or stop one's body functions cold and remove their life away, or perhaps even seperate one's "spirit" and body entierly, with or with out the body surviving. L ) S ( D *Life: Controlling the lfie inside people, their bodily energy and physical state. You can heal someone by directing their energy to an area needing recovery with ease, or even overload the body in a harmful manner, turning the body on it's own self. *Soul: The spirit of someone, what makes them "Them" and not someone else. by being able to control the connections someone has with their body and spirit, you may be able to make the very body "Incorperal" much like their spirit is, or allow the spirit to draw out of the body while still being connected enough to keep both 'alive'... or not. *Death: Primarly removing of energy from living things, making them fall apart and die, with skill one can selectivly make certain parts of someone's mind or body fail, stopping thought or action. It can be used positively as well, killing away something causing illness or removing the ability to feel pain or knocking someone out for their own safety for temporary momments. Tier 5: "Divine" Creation and Destruction, converting energy to matter or the reverse to create a substantial amount of one or the other, or breaking something down in a state of annihilation and void... Such power is almost limitless in either direction, and with enough power, one could create or distroy things entirely from or to nothing. Something that should be impossible. C & D *Creation: Creating matter or energy from the other, with enough skill and power, one can even create small amounts of either from nothing at all. *Destruction: The reverse of Creation, breaking things down and annihiliating them, perhaps in to a state of void with nothing left. Mana In order to control Magic and effect it's many diffrent elements and aspects, you need to put in an amount of energy equal to the action you are attempting. This energy is drawn from your body in the form of "Mana" to fuel the actions that result in the spell. You don't actually pay for everything you are doing, but instead invoke the element and guide it in to doing the rest of the work. This is how more skilled users can have greater effects at smaller costs, due to mastering how to invoke an element in the most efficent manner. Magic is hard to predict, being, well, magic. As such it is prone to being lost control of even by the most skilled users. For any spell to succeed, it must at least beat the DC of 50 or else it fails (And half the mana cost, rounded up, is refunded). If the Spell rolls a nat 1's, the user is given the "Mana locked" Status effect for 2d4+(spellcost/3) rounds. If the Spell rolls a nat 100, the spell "Mana bursts". Both effects are listed in the Spellcrafting section. Drawing mana from the body is physically taxing, and doing too much can have a number of negative effects. Treat any mana drawn from the body as a penelty to all actions much like negative stamina or blood loss, with mana recovering at the end of each day just like stamina does. There is a way to get more mana for skilled users however, so you do not have to drain just from your body and leave yourself weak. *The Mana skill can be used to collect an "Aura" of ambient mana to draw from before using your own body's mana, much like how the Stamina skill allows you to keep a reserve of Stamina for physical actions. The skill also allows one to recover their mana faster. *If you become skilled enough in an element, you may gain free daily mana for use with that element, this is used up before any generic mana and recovers fully each day. This is often nicknamed "Colored" Mana, and you have a daily amount equal to half your skill level per element. *Some items, usualy those with a crystal structure, can store small amounts of mana that can be drawn out and used as needed, great for storing up for a major event or emergency. Mana is recovered just like Stamina, in depth rules for the recovery of mana can be found on the Wounds and Injuries page. Just like being heavily drained of Stamina or Blood loss, Heavy Mana drain can have side effects on the body also detailed in the Wounds and Injuries page. Training Magic Skills Training Magic can be done just like training any other skills. Each element synenergizes with the two other elements beside it, treating the top and bottom of each list of elements in any tier as connecting. However just like using magic, you apply 1/10th of all your elements not being used already in the training roll (So any element that is not the element you are training and the two elements that synenergize with it.) Training any magic skills, Mana, Elemenst, Displines, or Psy-techs, costs mana just like physical skills would cost Stamina. Spellcraft Magic makes a very effiective and versatile tool. Though limited in the amount of uses, someone may make of it in a given day due to it's costs; a creative user can find plenty of things to make use of it with. Attempting to do something has a cost based on what you are trying to do. Have fun building up your own spells using the following guide! Spell Parts: *Each basic spell starts out as a single element and a single effect. *You may increase the ability of a spell by adding an additional element or effect, here by condidered adding additional spell parts. *A spell can be cast quick with up to 3 additional parts. You may also choose to "Charge" a spell, adding up to two extra effects per round of charge. When out of battle, subsitute 5 minutes for per round of charging. *When adding additional Elements as parts, synergize all added elements to the first element you picked. The effects are much like using Air to feed a stronger Fire, or using Space to better focus your control over Time. Though what elements you mix togeather is only limited in your skill and access to them. *Each Element is better at some things then other, these are labeled as the Elemental's Attributes. When using more then one element, include all their Attributes after synergy for the total magic bonus has been calculated. *When adding additional Attributes, use your total element bonus for each Attribute. When mixing multiple offensive effects in an attack, the first Attribute determines the required form of defense while additional Attributes take place at -10 Effectiveness, Taking an additional Attribute twice lets it work at full strength. Cost & Speed All spells take effort, and the cost of Spells *'Light:' Light spells are those that do not take much thought and often have a clear single effect in mind, such warming a cup of water, sending a quick jolt, or flinging a quick ball of heat to combust in the air as an improvised attack. Such spells cost 2 Mana, +2 per added Part. Default Speed of 2. *'Focused:' These are spells that often take more effort to take effect, but becuase of this they can have much longer lasting effects on the enviorment, from starting a proper fire to assisting in breaking down a door by hardening the tip of an axe. Such spells cost 5 Mana, +5 per added Part. Default Speed of 1. *'Mantenance:' By continuing to maintain and control your spell, you can keep up the effects of a non-instantanious focused spell by paying it's Quick-Spell cost(Both in mana and time) once a round. Examples: An Enivorment spell being used to light, a support spell being used to improve someone's strength or a spell binding someone's location. (Note: Damage and Healing applied once are "instantanious" effects) *'Efficency:' Gained from Equipment or Perks, can only be applied once per Element, Style of Magic, and Source of the Mana. Every Efficency effect reduced cost of Focused spells by 1 and Quick spells by .5, Rounded up. *'Failed Spells:' Failed Spells, those that roll under 50, have almost no effect, and refund half your mana cost rounded up. If a Nat 1 is rolled and thus you are "Mana Locked" you instead are never able to spend the mana in the first place, resulting in no cost. *'Mana Bursts:' On a natural 100 of a cast spell, amongst other effects, is an increased sudden cost as the mana is drained rapidly from you. Spells with singular targets are doubled in cost, while already large spells that effect an area or many targets are tripled in cost. Basic Spell Effects The following effects can be applied to most spells: *'Area of Effect:' To make the spell effect many targets instead of one, or something of equivilant size (Such as a room) Increase the spell by 2 Parts in size, and reduce the effectiveness of the spell by 1 Success or 5 Points(which ever applies) The spell gains an AoE of Element/10 Enviormental Spells The Most common use of magic is as a tool, simple applications that one could not normmaly do with the tools at hand, or those *'Light Spells - Cantrips': Light enviormental spells are called "Cantrips" and can allow someone to do any simple action that does not have much lasting effect or require much skill, such as creating a snowball out of the water in the air or making the wind carry their voice for a short phrase. *'Focused Spells - Skill Checks:' Treat focused enviormental spells like you would any other skill check done to effect the enviorment. Such as one would pick a lock or start a fire from tinder and flint, one could make a magic skill check to temporarly power an electrical pump or pressurizing the air to keep out gas. *'Larger Spells:' Sometimes you want to effect more then a single target or action, such as heating a whole room, or even attempting to change the very weather. Doing so takes both a lot of mana and a lot of control, and even then the effects may take time. **To extend a spell to roughly the size of a room, simply use the Area of Effect Spellpart **To attempt to change one of the enviormental effects(such as weather) Treat the spell as 5 Parts higher and the base DC by 3 Successes worth. (DC 150 instead of DC 50). If successful, the effect takes place in 2d4 Hours/Minutes and lasts for 1d4 Hours/Minutes (Depending on it being a weather effect or a short-term enviormental effect) For every success over the DC, decrease wait time by 1 and increase duration by 1d4. Support Spells *'Focused Spells - Skill Assistance Checks:' One can make an assistance check to another person's skill check much like the mundane version, and both a mundane and magic assistance check can be made on the same roll. (Normal rules of only the best magic assistance check applys to any given one roll are in use). Examples are stoking a forge's flame hotter or helping food cool quickly when needed. **You may also assist someone in casting any given spell, doing so uses the same cost the castor is making but as a Light spell instead of for the full cost if Focused. **The Bonus for assisting another's check is the same as a mundane assist, a +5 bonus per successes and half any bonuses for the assistor's natural extremely high or low rolls. The bonus can result in a penalty if it drops below 0. *'Enhancements - Buffs/Healing:' You can also make checks to enhance a person directly, such as increasing their speed, strength, or even invigorating their system to heal itself faster. The only requirement is that the element attributes fall under what you are trying to do; each element has a stat it can boost and an effect it can grant as buffs. Healing is an all-around check, but is made at a -5 effectiveness if the element does not contain the 'healing' attribute. Healing is applied to up to 2 wounds. **You can also attempt to reinvigorate someone by giving them Stamina or Mana. Doing so can not be done with colored Mana, unlike most spells; such a spell heals (Successes-1) worth of Mana or Stamina. Creative Spells *'Cantrip:' Any spell or effect that is primarly cosmetic or is very simple and not meant to have significant effects. Basicly anything with out statistical advantage. **'Cost:' 2 Mana *'Greater Cantrip:' Creating a more substantial spell or effect, such as running an electric current through a wire or melting the ice of something frozen solid. **'Cost:' 5 Mana, +5 Mana per added Effect* Offensive Spells *'Raw Magic Attack:' Invoking magic to cause harm directly on the opponenet. **'Lethality:' 100+(Speed*5)-(Tier*5)-(Magic Bonus/2) ***'Wounds:' Leth 40-: Base Wound 15 | Leth 41-75: Base Wound 10 | Leth 76+: Base Wound 5 **'Speed:' Up to 2+(Magic Bonus/15) **'Accuracy:' Magic Bonus **'Cost:' 2+Speed Mana, +5 Mana per added Effect* ***'AoE:' Counts as 1 Added Effect; For every 2 AoE, increase 'Speed' for all other calculations by 1, up to 2+(Magic Bonus/10) AoE *'Channeled Attack:' Channeling magic through a normal attack to make it more potent. **'Lethality:' Attack-(Magic Bonus/5) ***'Wounds:' -5 Worse than Attack **'Speed:' No Change **'Accuracy:' Attack+(Magic Bonus/2) **'Cost:' 5 Mana, +5 Mana per added Effect* *'Debuff:' Attempting to impair somebody rather than actually hurt them **'Lethality:' 100+(Speed*10)-(Tier*5)-(Magic Bonus/3) **'Speed:' Up to 1+(Magic Bonus/20) **'Accuracy:' Magic Bonus VS Physical Resist or Mental Resist ***'Physical Resist:' Endurance+(WillPower/2)+Armor ***'Mental Resist:' Willpower+LethalResist **'Cost: '''3+(Speed*2) Mana, +5 Mana per added Effect* ***'AoE:' Counts as 1 Added Effect; For every 2 AoE, increase 'Speed' for all other calculations by 1, up to 2+(Magic Bonus/10) AoE *'Defensive Magic:' Using magic to increase your defense rolls **'Effect: Sacrifice your next turn to add (Magic Bonus/2) to your dodge or Cover. **'''Cost: 5 Mana, +5 Mana per added Effect* Support Spells *'Craft Assist:' Using magic to boost the output of a task **Roll an assist check using your magic roll, Only one magical assist can be done per skill roll. **'Cost:' 5 Mana, +5 Mana per added Effect* *'Heal:' Using magic to treat the wounded **Roll a Magic check, treat as a First aid check done in a single round. If either a Magic or Mundane healing check has been used already, the other can still be used at -5 Effectiveness. **'Cost:' 5 Mana, +5 Mana per added Effect. ***'AoE: '''Counts as 2 added Effects; 2+(Magic Bonus/15); -5 Healing effectiveness ***'Buff': Counts as an added effect; See rules for details *'Buff:' Using magic to increase the abilities of oneself and your allies. **Roll a Magic check before casting; DC 50 is needed to successfully cast and DC 70/100/150/200 for each additional Effect available to add. ***You may select the secondary effect of an element you are not using on the same tier as one you are for 2 successes worth of additional effects. The cost still counts as 1 additional effect. ***Attempting to cast an enhancement spell on a target that already has one increases the amount of successes you need to cast the spell by 1. **'Effect:' Grants boosted stats. Stats are boosted by 10+(Magic Bonus/5) **'Cost: 5 Mana, +5 Mana per added Effect; Maintaining a buff has an upkeep cost of 3+(Added effects*2) per round; You may not maintain two buffs simultaneously ***'AoE: '''Counts as 2 added Effects; 2+(Magic Bonus/15); Increases successes needed by 1; Must be declared before rolling ***'Heal: Counts as an added effect; See rules for details; Only applied on the first round used and does not contribute to upkeep Additional Effects You may be wondering what "Added effects" can go on a spell? Well added effects are one of the most fundumental parts of spellcrafting! Each element has it's own strengths and weaknesses, added effects often are drawn from that element's unique diffrences from other elements. Some effects, like changing a spell to effect multiple targets in a single burst (Nicknamed "Area of Effect" or "AoE" for it's nature of effecting an area, rather then a single target) Are independent of any element and freely choosable by any element or combination there of. All Spells start with one element, however sometimes it is best to "Admixture" additional ones in to the spell for more effects. When adding effects to a spell, you may either add an element(adding half the new element to your total Magic Bonus, as well as half the Stat changes to your spell) or another effect. You may only add the special effect of an element to a spell if the element is already part of the spell Thus, your Magic Bonus is: Main element+(Half Added Elements) If you are using a certain Discipline, You may treat the Main element or the disipline as an added element for free. Critical Magic Effects Manaburst When you get a nat 100 on a spellcasting check Enchantments Cool stuff will be found here in the future! Category:System